Maybe I'm a Prude...

...but I find a lot of dresses to be too short for my taste. Or are they just really long shirts? I really don't know, but I have this banded bottom shirt/dress/THING just hanging in my closet.

As many know, it's supposed to be worn like this…

Found here

…which I don't find it very flattering on my figure. Every time I've worn this, I hid the band to make it look like a loose shirt, but it rode up and constantly pulling at my clothes gets annoying fast. Since I like the neckline and how the fabric flows, I decided to remove, loosen and then reattach the entire band.

I cut the band in half and then shortened them to fit the bottom of the shirt. I've successfully replaced the ambiguous article of clothing into a definitive shirt!

Circle Skirt turned Dress

SURPRISE! I ended up making something to wear this week :] I also got bored last night and decided to make my name tag out of scrap fabric! Who wants to blend in with a name tag made with markers and a piece of folded paper?



But, on to the main piece. Prior to starting this Thesis project, I've always kept an eye out on different DIY projects and tutorials. I have a whole bookmarks folder dedicated to tutorials I found interesting or simple enough for me to complete. This week, I decided to make a circle skirt.

The person who created the tutorial said she used a bed sheet to make the skirt and I realized I had tons of bed sheets laying around the house so I hastened to my closet and pulled out this beauty from back in the 90s...

...and I made this!

The bed sheet I used had a wide strip of solid fabric at the top, which I found could be used to convert the skirt into a dress. It's a two-in-one! However, today's forecast was cold and rainy so I decided to wear it like a long shirt with a pair of skinny jeans. Coincidentally, this is my 3rd post and I tend to park on the 3rd floor of a certain parking garage on campus so....

TA-DAAA!!!
P.S. I make a lot of funny faces >.<
Happy Friday!!

Birthday presents

I was going to make something to wear this week, but I fell ill and slept for most of my MLK day. So, in lieu of what I was originally planning, I decided to show you something else I made this weekend for my friends' birthdays. It's still fitting, though, as I used only what I had at hand: remnants and t-shirts.

So, what did I make? Clutch purses! I've never worked with zippers before and it was a great learning experience. The first one I made took a really long time as I made some errors [where I had to take it all apart!], but the second one was smooth sailing and I finished within an hour. Yay!

Here they are...

The second clutch had the same interior of one divider pocket. I made the divider black and the inside fabric is the same color as the front band.

Argh! I'm a pirate!

Today is a "reconstruct a super small tee" kind of day. This time, I made a skirt using one small tee and one XL tee based on this cool skirt I found when looking up reconstruction ideas: Lekkner Reconstruction.

I took out 3 shirts to begin with, but then decided to just use two.

Basically, I cut the red shirt at the sides and made a long rectangle from the front, printed side. I cut out two panels and the skirt waistband from the black tee. I sewed the three panels together [two black and one red] and then sewed that to the waistband. I ended up overcompensating so the skirt was a little loose. Since I used the bottom of the shirt as my waistband, I cut a couple slits and made that a casing for drawstring! I made my drawstring by cutting off the seams of the red shirt and sewing them together. Looping it through the casing, I finished my T-shirt skirt.



I wore this to class today and it was a bit chilly [next time I'll check the weather before I leave] and, as it was the first week of classes, there was an event to showcase some clubs and...FREE FOOD! Coincidentally, there were several pirates roaming around the area and they happily obliged to take a photo with me as my skirt matched them so well :]

Side Note: Even though you can't see from the picture, I wanted to mention that I wore were these amazing hand-crafted gauge earrings from Etsy. Unfortunately, the seller no longer has an active account :/

Time to roll up the sleeves...

...and break out the bobbins! What's a bobbin?? Well, I asked myself that too when I first saw a sewing machine. Actually, I was full of questions when I first tried my hand at sewing, but I finally figured out most of the features of my sewing machine through lots of trial and even more errors. And for the record, a bobbin is just a little cylinder wound with thread that you put inside the machine.

Anyways, I started sewing a while back, but never really got into the swing of it. However, once I decided upon this sewing thesis, I decided to have an official beginning project instead of starting out cold. The project of choice: an apron.

I bought a nautical themed remnant and matching remnants a long time ago intending to make my friend something incredibly awesome. As usual, that idea fell off the wayside. However, with her birthday looming closer and closer, I finally decided. She had been baking a lot recently and I remembered a few months prior, she was looking at cute aprons online. So, I set out to make the best apron I've ever made…not a big deal since it would be my first.

I used this apron as a template.

What's the point?

A Little Background 

Okay, so that's a bit of a lie. There is a lot of background for this project, but I'll try to keep it short and sweet.

This project is based off of the voluntary simplicity movement and the concept of sustainable consumption. In essence, I want to go back to a time where people hand crafted goods instead of mass produced them. This sentiment is echoed globally as demonstrated by the numerous online crafting communities and businesses, like Etsy.



Coincidentally, I am currently taking a class on sustainable consumption. This term has been a hot topic in more recent times and there are new books covering this topic everywhere you turn! Some associate it with the green movement, but it is much more than that. Sustainable consumption applies to numerous fields and at different levels; familial, individual, societal, etc. To me, sustainable consumption means buying commodities in such a way that keeps the environment and economy viable in the longterm.

Voluntary simplicity is akin to an anti-consumerism type of movement. It's ideals lie in the fact that happiness can not be bought. By living simply, we can focus on what truly matters and live for ourselves. We experience and appreciate life free of materialistic goals and, in this extra time, can hone our personal skills. However, this is usually undertaken by those who are comfortable in their economic standing, hence the term "voluntary." Luckily, I am fortunate enough to have the choice to undertake this type of project as I am a full-time student [aka unemployed and living comfortably at home.]



I find that when I think of voluntary simplicity, I naturally associate it with the relaxed outdoors or country living...

The Preliminaries 

I've been trying my hand at this sewing business since high school only to give up halfway through my projects. I would buy fabrics and have all these great plans...which never saw the light of day. Beginning last year, I finally started to just shoulder through and finish some of the projects I started.

My first project was a T-shirt dress. On campus, we receive free t-shirts for practically any, and all, events. My freshman year, I joined a pre-health club and won a raffle for a shirt. I was so excited for the prize...until I saw it was an XXL shirt. Regardless, I liked the design and figured I could alter it somehow. A couple semesters passed by until I finally decided to take action.

Giant shirt ==> Dress!

Sleeves close-up!

After the success of the T-shirt dress, I decided to pursue sewing and improve my rudimentary skills which resulted in tote bags I made as Christmas gifts.

From here, my undergraduate honors thesis was looming in my near future and I entertained the idea of tapping into my newfound creativity. No longer was toiling in a research lab my thesis dream [as if it ever were] but rather, I wished to be hunched over my simple sewing machine.

The Rules 

I set the following parameters to keep myself in check.

-Based off of the idea of sustainability, defined as consumption of goods in such a way to protect the environment and use resources wisely, I will not buy any material goods for this project. Hence, majority of the fabric at hand will be from old clothes, bed sheets, curtains, etc. and will be re-purposed to create the new item.

-Exceptions to not buying any clothes/fabrics are necessities, handmade goods and/or vintage items. Part of the DIY/sustainability concept includes direct support for artisans and the local economy as well as the recycling of older materials. Basically, I will not buy anything new.  The necessities would include zippers, buttons and closures that I wouldn’t be able to replace with fabric alone.

-Fabrics and materials can be donated, but this will be kept to a minimum.

-Projects will be completed at least weekly (which means I could do more!) and posted ASAP.

Where I come in...

Personally, I am undertaking this project to explore my creativity. As a biomedical sciences major, my life starting from high school up to this point has been filled primarily with science classes. Throughout my college career, I incorporated non-science courses in order to maintain my sanity. These classes made me have a greater appreciation for the emotional and creative aspects of my life. Hence, I choose to have this creative thesis.

The DIY mindset, to me at least,  is a choice. I walk around and see many items and think, "Self, you can make this!" However, thinking just doesn't cut it. I am just at the tip of the iceberg in regards to beginning DIY projects. There are several different aspects of DIY: crafts, technology, toys, outdoor items, etc. I am focusing on crafts for my thesis, specifically the reconstruction of different fabrics, be they bed sheets or old tee shirts, into new articles of clothing. This aspect of DIY/sustainability incorporates recycling of old goods into new and unique items. Each year, I buy more and more clothes resulting in a wardrobe with many items that will no longer see the light of day. Instead of forgetting about these 'outdated' clothes, the fabric can be used to make something new. In creating
this thesis project, I will finally put my ideas into action.

EDIT: My Honors Thesis is over as of April 2011, but I will update this blog as I see fit (i.e. whenever I am crafty and decide to post.)